Vehicle-operated garage door



May 27, 1930. J. TENBROOK VEHILLE OPERATED GARAGE DOOR Filed March 9, 1929 Q N I i n N gwvewtoo 1 7 en6roo7( WW 1 Patented May 27, 1930 JOHN 'rnxnnoox, or GLENWOOD srnmes, conormno vnnrcnn-oriinarnn GARAGE noon Application filed March 9, 1929. Serial No. 345,762.

This invention relates to doors or'gates and 7 Referring now more particularly to the i more particularly to a door or gate which is opened by a vehicle and closes after the vehicle has passed.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of an apparatus particularly adapted for use with garage doors, the structure providing bumpers upon the faces of the doors which, when engaged by the i 1 front wheels of an approaching Vehicle, will act to release the latches holding the doors in closed position. I I 1 A further object of theinvention is the provision of a structure of this character Whereinthe bumpers of the doorand the door proper are withheld from engagement with the running boards and fenders of the vehicle as the vehicle passes therethrough and are released after the vehicle has reached a pre- 29 determinedposition within the garage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure of this character havingassociated therewith means withinthe garage for assisting and maintaining the door in its open position both as the car enters the gara e and when the car is leaving the same.

ther objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein I Figure 1 is a horizontal diagrammatic sectional view of a garage with my door opening mechanism applied thereto, the mechanism being illustrated in solid lines in the position which it occupies when the vehicle has left the garage and the doors are closed and in dotted lines in the position which the part-s occupy when the vehicle is entering the garage and immediately prior to the release of the doors't-o permit their return to the closed position.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevation of one of the doors showing the latch Figure 3is a section on the line 3-3 'of Figure 2. 7

Figure 4 is an under side view of the bumper 'block 11 and the latch actuating bell crank;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 55 of 50 Figure 1. 7

drawings the numerallO generally designates the swinging doors of a garage. A suitable means is provided for biasing these doors to closed position and may constitute either springs orweights. In the present instance, springs 20* are disclosed as secured to the floor ofthe vehicle and as having their ends engaged with cam elements l0 carried by the inner'faces of the doors. Each door has at its outer face a bumper 11 which is disposed adjacent the lower edge of the door and in a position to be struck by the front wheels of an approaching vehicle. -l

Mounted upon the inner face of each door is a latch '12 shown as a swinging latch pivoted at13. This latch operates within a guide '14 and a weight 15 acts to urge the latch into latching position. A spring might obviously be employed for this purpose. Disposed upon the floorof the garage within the door is a triangular keeper 16 and the latches of the door when closed swing behind the keeper to retain the doorsin' closed position. Mounted upon the under'face'of the bumper board of each dooris abell crank lever 17 having a flexible connection 17 to the associated latch and one end of this bell crank lever projects beyond the bumper 11 and is adapted to be'engaged by a board 18 hinged, as at 19 to the outer edge of the bumper."

' Arranged within the garage and pivoted as at 21 at their innerv ends are two levers '20 which may swing about theirtpivots in adirection transverse to the garage. Each of theseilevers has at its inner face an inwardly bowed wheel contacting member. 22 and has at its outerface at its free end orthat end more nearly-adjacent the door aprojecting striker 22 which extends beyond theinner end of the lever. Each lever 20 haspivoted thereto as at 24 a latch 28, which isnormally maintained projected beyond the free end of the lever by a spring 25 or some other suitable bias means. The face of this latch confronts the strikerextension 22 and each latch has oted arms 27 having secured thereto a bumper board 28.

The outer ends of the arms have secured thereto the inner ends of the flexible elements 29 so that when the board 28 is contacted to cause movement'of the same toward the rear wall of the garage, a pull is exerted upon the flexible elements 29 withdrawing latches levers.

23 beyond the faces of the'free ends of the The operation of the apparatus ust described is as follows The vehicle'approaching the garage en gages the boards 18 with its front wheels,

thereby releasing latches 12 and permitting the doors toswing inwardly against the action of springs orother suitable bias means. As the doors swing inwardly the free edges thereof come into contact with the striker elements 22 of levers 20 and the levers 20accordingly swing apart at their free ends as the doors open. The front wheels of the car upon leaving the bumpers 11' engage between the levers 20 and against the ,wheel engaging strips or cams 22. Since the doors 10 are at this time disposed between thestrikers 22 and latches24, the separationiof levers 20 will maintain thedoors 10 in open position, thereby preventing these doors from coming in contact with any portion of thevehicle. As the vehicle moves rearward.

' ly, thisiseparation of the doors is retained and will be retained untilthe vehicle com'esin contact with board 28, when latches 23, being withdrawn, the doors 10 will close, under the influence of springs 20 It has been found in practice that there? bound of a vehicle after engagement, withboard 28 will be sufiicient to'enable the return of this board to its normal positionfand according'ly the returnof; the latches to a position where they may reengage with the door when it is again opened.

When it is desired to remove the vehicle from the garage, doors 10 are opened against the action of springs 20 to an extent fwhere' theyengage behind latches 23. The vehicle is then, backed from the garage, the doors being held in open position by the levers until the front portion of the vehicle lies between the doors, when the bumpers 11 will engage with the doors and the doors will follow the.

movement of the vehicle, until they reach closed position. .During primary closing movement of the doors, the 'free ends of le.-

vers-2O will move therewith until such time as the edges of thesedoors clear latches 23,

while these latchesarestill in their extended position.-

V e Sincev it is entirely improbable that the vehicle will be exactly centered with the doors when'engaging thereagainst and there is accordingly liability of one of the doors not properly'engaging with the latch 23 of the associated. lever so-thatit will be retained in open position, I provide stops 30 against which the outer faces of the levers 20-engage when these levers have been moved outwardly.

a predetermined distance. These stops may be of any suitable characterdepending upon the type of construction employed in the garage.- 7 i v Since the construction hereinbefore. set forth is capable ofa'certain range of change and modification without materially departing-from the spirit of the'invention, I do not limit myself tosuch specific structure except as hereinafter claimed. While I have heretofore referred tothe application of this device to a garage door, I do not obviously wish to be limited to its use; with 'doors of this character'as it is within the purview of myin: I

vention to use it in. conjunction with a gate.

It is to be understood that I use the terms door and ;gat'e as convertible terms.

7 Having described claim is a I. 1. Anautomatic doorcomprisingcombination inwardly swinging doors urged t0; a

closed position, bumpers mountedrup on the outer faces of the doors and adapted to be engaged by the front wheels of an entering car, the bumpers beingmounted for movement, latches holding the doors closed but shifted to a releasing position vwhen the my invention what I bumper i'sjshiftedrelative-tothe doors by contact with automobile wheels, car engaging means holding the doors in an open position and including, shiftable doora engaging latches, and, car actuated releasing'means disposed within the garage and in thejfpath ofmovement of the car and when engaged by a car, releasing said last na permit the doors to close,

2. An automatic door for: garages com prising in combination inwardly swinging doors urged to a closed position,- latches ed. latches to mounted upon theinnerfaces of the doors and adapted to hold the doors against inward movement, bumpers mounted upon the exterior faces 0f the; doors and including movable members operatively engaging with thelatches to release them when the movable members are forced inward by the pressure of the wheels of an'entering car, thebumpers causing the doors to swing open as the car continues its inward :movement, pivoted spring actuated latches mounted within. the garage and adapted to enga ethe: doors and hold them open when the oors havebeen moved to an opened position, a trip member 7 comdoors urged to a closed position, bumpers mounted upon the outer faces of the doors and adapted to be engaged by the wheels of an entering automobile, latches holding the doors against inward movement, means mounted upon the bumpers and adapted to be engaged with and moved by the wheels of an entering car acting to retract said latches and permitting the wheels by pressure against the bumpers to force the doors inward, longitudinally extending levers mounted upon the floor of the garage and pivoted at their rear ends, the levers being adapted to be spread outward as the wheels of the car pass between the levers, latches carried at the ends of the levers and adapted to engage behind the doors after the doors have been opened by the car and to hold said doors opened, and a latch releasing member shiftably mounted in the path of movement of the car and adapted to be engaged by the front wheels thereof and when so engaged, acting to release said latches and permit the door to close.

4:. An automatic door comprising in combination inwardly swinging doors'urged to a closed position, means on the doors adapted to be engaged by the forward end of an automobile whereby the doors may be forced open by an entering car, levers mounted inward of the doors and carrying latches with which the doors engage, said leversbeing forced laterally outward and held from inward movement by the wheels of the'car, and

e means disposed in the path of the car for releasing said latches when the rear end, of the, car has passed beyond the path of movement of the doors.

'5. In an automatic door, inwardly swinging doors urged to a closed position, a keeper mounted upon thefioor of the garage at the meeting point of said doors, a latch pivoted upon the inside face of each of the doors for lateral swinging movement into position behind said keeper when the doors are closed,

a horizontally disposed bumper mounted upon the outer face of each door, a hinged member mounted upon the face of the bumper and adapted to be engaged by the wheels of an entering automobile and a bell crank lever engaged by said member,the-bell crank lever being connected to the corresponding latch so that as the board is forced inward the bell crank lever will retract the latch.

6. An'automatic door for garages comprising in combination inwardly swinging doors urged to a closed position, bumpers mounted upon the outenfaces of the doors and adapted to be engaged by the front wheels of an enter ing car, the bumpers being mounted for movement, latches holding the doors closed but shifted to a releasing postion when the bumper is shifted relative to the doors by contact with automobile wheels, means latching the doors in an open position, car actuated latch releasing means disposed within the garage and in the path of movement of the car,

means urging the latches to a projected position whereby the doors may be opened by hand and latched, and means causing the release of the latches and the closing of the doors when the car backs out of the garage.

7. An automatic door comprising in combination inwardly swinging doors urged to aclosed position, latches holding the doors closed, means mounted upon the outer faces of the doors and adapted to be engaged by the front wheels of an entering car and acting to release said latches and then as the car moves into the garage to open the doors, means latching the doors in open position, levers upon which said latching means are mounted, the levers being disposed to be engaged by the wheels of an entering car and shifted away from each other to thereby hold the doors open, and means disposed in the path of movement of the car adapted to release said latches when the car has passed beyond the path of movement of the doors to thereby permit the doors to close, said car acting to hold the levers from inward movement, the levers being released to permit the closing of the doors when the car has backed out from between the levers.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

OHN TEN BROOK.

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